NYC key in tight AG race

Schneiderman's edge in New York City powers him over GOP's Donovan

By RICK KARLIN Capitol bureau

Published 1:27 am, Wednesday, November 3, 2010

NEW YORK -- Helped by a strong union-backed Get Out the Vote effort while promising to keep cracking down on Wall Street abuses, Democrat Eric Schneiderman was on track to win Tuesday's race for attorney general with Republican Dan Donovan by a narrow margin. Schneiderman was ahead 55 to 43 percent early Wednesday.

Schneiderman, a veteran state senator from Manhattan's Upper West Side, belied predictions that anti-incumbent anger would make it hard for him to win.

Building on a strong base of support in New York City, Schneiderman, was able to convince enough upstate and suburban voters that it was more important to have a "Sheriff of Wall Street" than someone who might perhaps focus mostly on investigating lawmakers, as Donovan had promised to do. New York City's base of progressive voters as well as union members allowed Schneiderman to defeat four Democratic primary opponents, and that win provided a good jumping-off point to gain points statewide.

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At the same time observers noted that Donovan, who is the Staten Island district attorney, may have spent too much time trying to overcome Schneiderman's lead in New York City, with comparatively few upstate trips. A Republican running against a Manhattan liberal, Donovan might have wrongly assumed that upstate and suburban voters would support him.

Schneiderman also received strong support from his predecessor in the attorney general's office, governor-elect Andrew Cuomo.

Another source of support came from pro-choice groups that throughout the campaign stressed Donovan was opposed to abortion. While Donovan insisted that abortion rights are a settled issue and that he would uphold the law, Schneiderman was able to use the issue to mobilize some of his supporters.

Schneiderman also dodged a potential electoral bullet in the form of a scathing report by Inspector GeneralJoseph Fisch last month that exposed numerous problems and conflicts in the way members of the state Senate tried to influence the bidding for electronic gambling machines at Aqueduct Race Course in Queens. While Schneiderman wasn't named in the 308-page report, Donovan pushed Schneiderman to return contributions made by key Senate Democrats who were singled out for blame. Ultimately, some of Schneiderman's supporters credited his energetic campaign, which unrolled a planned policy initiative each day during the final weeks of the race.

"I think he has campaigned his heart out," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. "I think he built the kind of coalition that makes politicians green with envy. He was able to take a record as a progressive and take it statewide."